ISCC Regional Stakeholder Dialogue 7 th ISCC Technical Committee Meeting Southeast Asia October 25, 2017, Jakarta, Indonesia ISCC Update on Social Issues Change in ISCC Procedures & matters for further consideration Vasu R. Vasuthewan, Member of the ISCC Board
Social issues a key focus in ISCC. Continuous improvement of standard and ongoing dialogue with stakeholders essential ISCC Integrity Assessments Certification Audits NGO reports For ISCC social issues are a crucial component of the sustainability certification Continuous development of standard is essential ISCC is learning from: Findings from certification and integrity audits Stakeholder dialogue Reports from NGOs Implementation of social requirements is supported by: Working group Social Issues ISCC Integrity Audits Coverage of topics in ISCC trainings for auditors and company representatives ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 2
An Example of an NGO Report- The Finnwatch report The law of the jungle Report The law of the jungle Corporate responsibility of Finnish palm oil producer was published in September 2014 by Finnwatch Finnwatch is a Finnish NGO that focuses on business actions in developing countries Report contains allegations of breach of social standards at four IOI plantations in Malaysia that were covered by ISCC and RSPO certificates Finnwatch visited three of the plantations on-site. Information on the fourth planation were gathered by interviews with workers conducted outside the plantation The findings mostly focused on social standards for migrant workers: High recruitment costs for foreign workers Working contracts not available in appropriate languages No payment of minimum wage to foreign workers Restrictions of freedom of association of foreign workers Withholding of identity papers of foreign workers ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 3
Finnwatch report and immediate actions taken by ISCC ISCC sends independent auditor to three plantations in MY to check Finnwatch allegations ISCC publishes 2 nd ISCC statement Meeting of the stakeholder group SEA in Bangkok with participation of Finnwatch 3 Sept 14 11/12 Sept 14 16 Sept 14 2 Dec 14 13 March 15 24 March 15 12 Aug 15 ISCC learned about Finnwatch investigations and allegations Finnwatch published report and ISCC published 1 st statement on the report Finnwatch published follow up report with responses by certification schemes and company Set up of the working group Social Issues during meeting of the stakeholder group SEA in Jakarta ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 4
Overview: ISCC reacted quickly and addressed issues stated in the Finnwatch report 1. Retention of passports 2. Discrimination of foreign workers 2014 2015/2016 2016/2017 3. Freedom of association 4. Minimum wage 5. Recruitment cost 6. Contracts in appropriate languages Development of requirements and implementation Implementation and further improvement = Analysis = Measures developed = Fully implemented = Not to be influenced by ISCC/ out of scope = Partially implemented ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 5
Issue 1: Retention of passports of foreign workers Update of ISCC Audit Procedures in 2015: Workers shall not be forced to hand over their identity cards or passports to the farm or plantation management or any other third party* * Requirement 4.2.1 (major must), ISCC System Document 202 v3.0 ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 6
Issue 2: Discrimination of foreign workers, e.g. pay gap to national workers, family issues? ISCC Audit Procedure: ISCC does not differentiate between national and migrant workers*: There is no discrimination at the farm or plantation Employment conditions comply with equality principles All workers are to be provided with fair legal contracts Family issue: Migrant workers are not allowed to marry locals or bring their family to Malaysia Prohibition of bringing family or marriage to locals is rooted in Malaysian Immigration Law** The influence on national regulations and private spheres is restricted and would go beyond the scope of a certification system * Requirements 4.2.3, 4.2.4, 4.2.6 (major)*; 4.2.5 (minor), ISCC System Document 202 v.3.0. Requirements were already included before 2014 ** = http://www.imi.gov.my/index.php/en/main-services/foreign-workers.html ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 7
Issue 3: Freedom of association seems to be restricted for foreign workers. Companies refuse to deduct trade union membership fees ISCC Audit Procedure: Requirements for freedom of association were already covered in 2014 before the report* An elected worker or a workers' council represents the interests of the workers Labour organisations and collective bargaining are allowed for negotiating working conditions There is a person responsible for workers' health, safety and good social practice * Requirements 4.2.10 (major), 4.2.9, 4.2.11 (minor), ISCC System Document 202 v.3.0 ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 8
Issue 4: Foreign workers earned less than minimum wage ISCC Audit Procedure: ISCC does not differentiate between national and migrant workers. The requirement to pay minimum wage was covered in 2014 before the report* A living wage is paid which meets at least legal or industry minimum standards If payment is calculated per unit, workers (on average) shall be able to gain the legal minimum wage within regular working hours Update after 2014: Working times and overtime are documented * Requirements 4.2.8 (major must), 4.2.7, 4.2.14 (minor musts), ISCC System Document 202 v.3.0 ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 9
Issue 5: High recruitment fees and expenses for foreign workers before starting to work at a plantation Update of ISCC Audit Procedures in 2015*: The self-declaration on good social practice contains respect for living wage Retaining excessive deduction of fees from wages for disciplinary purposes, personal protective equipment, deposits for accommodation or tools is prohibited * Requirements 4.1.1 (minor must) and 4.2.1 (major must), ISCC System Document 202 v.3.0 ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 10
Issue 6: Contracts were not available in languages understood by foreign workers. Workers may also be illiterate ISCC Audit Procedure: The requirement was covered in 2014 before the report*: The employment conditions of individual workers comply with legal regulations and/or collective bargaining agreements and must be documented and available in the languages understood by workers or explained carefully to them by the manager or supervisor. * Requirement 4.2.7 (minor), ISCC System Document 202 v.3.0 ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 11
Practical example from an ISCC audit Implementation of social issues was not sufficient and requires special focus During an audit of two palm plantations in Malaysia the ISCC auditor found a number of nonconformities with social requirements, including: Worker s passports stored at safe keeping at head quarter 800km away from plantation Foreign workers have to pay a deposit before they can travel home Workers sometimes work for weeks without days off No extra-payment for work on Sundays and public holidays No protective clothing available for workers applying chemicals Workers are partly without contracts Vivid example to highlight practices that may be systemic in the industry (e.g. safe keeping of passports) ISCC to assess as to whether audit procedures have to be adjusted to better cover those issues during audits Indication for areas on which to put special attention during certification audits, integrity assessments and ISCC trainings ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 12
Report of Amnesty International on labour issues on Indonesian palm plantations Report The Great Palm Oil Scandal was published in 2016 Report investigated labour exploitations Indonesian palm plantations The findings mostly focused on: Work, pay and penalties Child labour Forced labour Payments below minimum wages Working hours and overtime Health and safety Gender discrimination ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 13
For consideration: Correlation between targets, payment & penalties and child labour Example: Correlation between work targets, payments & penalties and child labour Payments for harvesters of FFBs are often based on output targets (piece rates), and for sprayers of PPPs and fertilizers based on tanks to spray or rows to weed Targets often appear to be set rather to meet companies needs than on realistic assumptions what workers can achieve within their working hours Workers often do not reach targets within working hours, face deductions from salaries or don t get the bonus This can also lead to salaries below minimum wage As a consequence, workers on plantations claimed that they get help from their children, spouses or others to meet their work targets, avoid penalties or get bonuses Report found children aged 8 15 years working on plantations They work mostly outside school times but some have dropped out of school entirely and work full time Point for discussion for Working Group Social Issues: How to tackle this correlation between low payment and child labour? ISCC System GmbH: For personal use only. Reproduction and distribution is prohibited. 14
Many thanks for your attention! Contact Vasu R.Vasuthewan ISCC Association (ISCC e.v.) Hohenzollernring 72 D-50672 Cologne, Germany Email: vasu.board@iscc-system.org